[olug] MythTV + PVR150 + IR Blaster

Benjamin Watson bwatson1979 at gmail.com
Wed Sep 26 02:55:37 UTC 2007


Jon, thanks for your input.  I see myself tweaking my xorg.conf in the
not-too-distant future.

On 9/25/07, Jon Larsen <relayer at levania.org> wrote:
> I don't have a problem watching content on my TV from my Mythbox
> (including video with subtitles)
>
> Here is a quick rundown of my xorg.conf for TV out.
>
> In your xorg.conf file, there are a few settings to optimize TV-out.
>
> First, we'll look at the monitor section for the TV:
>
> Section "Monitor"
>         Identifier   "Monitor1"
>         VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
>         ModelName    "NTSC TV"
>         DisplaySize  640        480
>         HorizSync    30.0 - 50.0
>         VertRefresh  60.0 - 60.0
> EndSection
>
> Note the Horizontal Sync and Vertical Refresh - US TVs run at 60 Hz (just
> like AC power).  Also, 640x480 is normal TV resolution.
>
> The video card settings are specific to your setup.  You may need to use
> TVOutFormat "COMPOSITE" instead of SVIDEO (composite is RCA video),
> it depends on your TV, plus you'll need the Connected Monitor option
> set to "TV" and TVStandard set to "NTSC-M".  You can see mine here:
>
> Section "Device"
>         #Option     "NvAGP" "0"
>         Identifier  "Videocard1"
>         Driver      "nvidia"
>         VendorName  "Videocard vendor"
>         BoardName   "NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX (generic)"
>         Option      "TVStandard" "NTSC-M"
>         Option      "Connected Monitor" "TV"
>         Option      "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
>         #Option       "TVOutFormat" "COMPOSITE"
>         Option      "RenderAccel" "1"
>         Option      "NoLogo" "On"
>         #BusID      "PCI:2:0:0"
> EndSection
>
>
> And the Screen section to tie it all together.  note I still specify
> 640x480.
>
> Section "Screen"
>         Identifier "Screen1"
>         Device     "Videocard1"
>         Monitor    "Monitor1"
>         DefaultDepth     24
>         SubSection "Display"
>                 Depth     24
>                 Modes    "640x480"
>         EndSubSection
> EndSection
>
> The Nvidia settings are exlained more in detail in tar.gz that
> the driver comes packaged.  Other xorg.conf items are gleamed from the
> MythTV Mailing lists.  I've used this xorg.conf config for three years
> now, moving it from box to box when I upgrade.
>
> You must cold or warm boot your box connected to the TV to allow the
> TV-out to initialize itself.
>
> I am using the following nvidia card:
> 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV18 [GeForce4 MX
> 4000 AGP 8x] (rev c1)
> This limits me to version 9731 of the nvidia driver.  Later versions
> higher than 9731 do not support the MX4000 series.
>
> My full xorg.conf is available here:
> http://www.olug.org/~relayer/mythbox.xorg.conf.txt
>
>
> Jon L.
>
>
> On Mon, 24 Sep 2007, Benjamin Watson wrote:
>
> > Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 23:30:51 -0500
> > From: Benjamin Watson <bwatson1979 at gmail.com>
> > Reply-To: Omaha Linux User Group <olug at olug.org>
> > To: Omaha Linux User Group <olug at olug.org>
> > Subject: Re: [olug] MythTV + PVR150 + IR Blaster
> >
> > Thanks for the tip Rob, I'll definitely look into it.
> >
> > I've never attended a Linux install-fest myself, but I think a good
> > topic of conversation and hands-on project would be setting up an HTPC
> > using some of the more popular Myth-based distros (e.g. LinuxMCE,
> > Mythbuntu, Mythdora, KnopMyth, or plain old Ubuntu with Myth meta
> > package).
> >
> > I certainly see the benefits of an HTPC setup over the COX DVR service.
> >
> > In the meantime, I'm going to play around with that RF modulator
> > anyways as I've got to figure out a way to connect a PC to some older
> > "plain Jane" TVs that only have a coax input.
> >
> > Ben
> >
> > On 9/24/07, Rob Townley <rob.townley at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > On 9/24/07, Benjamin Watson <bwatson1979 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > With regards to HTPC stuff, how are you guys connecting PC A/V out to
> > > > TVs?  I've dabbled around with LinuxMCE, Myth, Mythbuntu, etc. but my
> > > > problem is actually watching the stuff on a television rather than a
> > > > PC monitor.
> > > >
> > > > Most of the TVs I own are older and do not have HDMI or VGA inputs.
> > > > They typically have coax, S-Video, RCA, or component.  In one trial, I
> > > > connected the S-Video output of my TV-tuner card directly to the
> > > > S-Video input of my TV and the picture was horrible.  I finally dug up
> > > > an old RF modulator I had for the days of connecting old console
> > > > systems to TVs, but have yet to try it.  So, I figured I'd ask what
> > > > you all are doing to get acceptable video quality to show up on your
> > > > television sets.
> > > >
> > > > Ben
> > > >
> > > > On 9/22/07, Jeff Hinrichs - DM&T <jeffh at dundeemt.com> wrote:
> > > > > On 9/19/07, Jon Larsen <relayer at levania.org> wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I'm using a separate IRBlaster to control my digital cable box.  I
> > > > > > purchased it from irblaster.info for $15.  It hooks into an RS-232 Serial
> > > > > > port.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I used a lirc how to document which had instructions to configure both
> > > > > > the IR Receiver from my pvr-250 and the serial irblaster.  You may need to
> > > > > > read a couple different howtos' and merge them together.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I used this as my howto.
> > > > > > http://www.eggshellskull.com/lirc/blaster/index.php
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I am using Fedora Core 6 and the ATRPMs repo for the mythtv files.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > If you have a built-in irblaster function, I assume you'll need to use i2c
> > > > > > to talk to it.
> > > > > >
> > > > > Thanks, I got it figured out.  I followed the directions about getting
> > > > > lirc and blaster set up before installing mythtv
> > > > > https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Install_Lirc_Feisty
> > > > >
> > > > > That worked out fine.  Then the mythtv install went swimmingly.
> > > > >
> > > > > Are you using Mythdora or Fedora w/ MythTV?  I tried a Mythbuntu
> > > > > (alpha based on 7.10) and  MythDora 4 and neither were a satisfactory
> > > > > experience for me.  I ended up sticking with Ubuntu 7.04 and
> > > > > installing the MythTV meta package.  I already had a SchedulesDirect
> > > > > account as I was using GBPVR before MythTV.  I liked GBPVR as an
> > > > > application but using Window$ as a platform was a real Achilles heel.
> > > > > All of the problems I had with the former had to do with deficiencies
> > > > > in the underlying OS.
> > > > >
> > > > > With you myth install are you using xine for previously recorded
> > > > > files?  I think I am going to try using VLC as the external player.
> > > > >
> > > > > -Jeff
> > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > OLUG mailing list
> > > > > OLUG at olug.org
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> > > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
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> > > >
> > >
> > > S-Video Out To TV should have better video quality. On my screwy tv,
> > > S-Video input is terrible as well until i power cycle the television,
> > > then it is great.  Since you had it directly connected, that would
> > > rule out a dvd player macrovision scrambling.   You may want to look
> > > to see if there are TV input options that will give you a better
> > > signal from S-Video.
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> > >
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>
> --
> Jon H. Larsen  - relayer -at- levania -dot- org
> Operations Manager, Omaha Linux Users Group - http://www.olug.org/
> AnimeSunday.org - http://www.animesunday.org/
> Website - http://www.levania.org/~relayer/
> GPG/PGP Pubkey - http://www.levania.org/~relayer/relayerpubkey.txt
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